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Blood drive scheduled to thank donors who helped save Peters Township girl’s life

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Prior to the arrival of their third child, Nancy and Joe Tray of Peters Township had no reason to expect complications during Maddalena’s delivery.

Then came an emergency trip from where she was born to the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

“One of the nurses who had been there for 20 years told my husband, ‘I’ve never seen a baby get so much blood at one time,'” her mother recalled.

Blood donation

Vitalant, one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit community blood service providers, supplies comprehensive transfusion medicine services to nearly 1,000 hospitals and health care partners for patients in need across 40 states.

The organization has these basic requirements for blood donation:

  • Must be at least 16 years old. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds must bring a signed permission form from a parent or guardian, if required by state or school.
  • Weigh at least 110 pounds. Certain height and weight criteria may apply for donors ages 22 years and younger.
  • Be in good general health.
  • For your safety and to ensure a positive donation experience, make sure you eat within two hours before your donation. Drink plenty of water that day and 24 to 48 hours beforehand.
  • Bring identification with your name and one of the following: date of birth, donor ID number or your photo.
  • You must wait eight weeks between whole blood donations.
  • You should not be under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs at the time of donation.

Because of COVID-19, Vitalant is requiring that people should not donate today if in the past four weeks:

  • You had symptoms from a lab-diagnosed or suspected COVID-19 infection and have not had a subsequently negative nasopharyngeal swab test result
  • You have lived with or been in close contact with individuals diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 infection
  • You are a health care worker who has been caring for a patient diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 and have not consistently been able to use recommended personal protective equipment such as face mask, gown and gloves.

Maddalena had been diagnosed with a biochemical abnormality called metabolic acidosis.

“That means she had too much lactic acid in her body, which can be caused by prolonged oxygen deprivation,” Nancy said. “For some reason she wasn’t getting the oxygen, which, obviously, your vital organs need, and they were starting to shut down.

“But we had no idea why, and to this day have no idea why or what happened.”

She said Maddalena is in relatively good shape as she approaches her fourth birthday in February.

“Of all the things that she went through when she was born, this is probably one of the best-case scenarios for us,” she said. “We just feel blessed and thankful that she’s doing as well as she is today.”

To help show their gratitude toward some of the people who helped make that possible, the Trays have been hosting annual replenishment blood drives in Maddalena’s honor. The 2020 drive is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at Peters Township Public Library, 616 E. McMurray Road.

“I was not a consistent blood donor prior to this, because I didn’t really realize the value,” Nancy said. “I’m just trying to educate myself and others on the importance, because honestly, she wouldn’t be alive if she didn’t have that blood that night.”

Her two older daughters had been born without any issues, and throughout her pregnancy with Maddalena, everything checked out well.

“But as soon as she was born, instead of me being able to hold her, they kind of took her right away,” Nancy recalled. “My husband had called our priest at the time, because we didn’t know what was going to happen. It didn’t look good at all.”

Nancy gives particular credit to four NICU nurses at Children’s for saving her daughter’s life, and Maddalena remained in the hospital for 40 days, receiving more than 40 blood products during her stay.

“She wouldn’t clot really well, so she needed a lot of platelets, for example,” her mother said.

Because she was suspected to have damage to major organs, Maddalena underwent a freezing protocol as a protective measure. Subsequent tests of her brain function came back with welcomed results, to say the least.

“The doctors were even flabbergasted by it,” Nancy said.

She added, though, that some other organs haven’t fared as well.

“We just had our appointment recently with the nephrologist, and he said, ‘We can’t tell you when, but at some point, her kidney function will decline, and she will need a kidney transplant,” Nancy said.

Continued testing should indicate at what point that is likely to occur. In the meantime, Maddalena’s mother keeps spreading the word about the importance of giving blood.

“I always say, donating is really a simple act of kindness with such an enormous impact,” Nancy said. “I feel that says it all, right there.”

To make an appointment to donate on Nov. 6, visit vitalant.org and click the “Log In” button. On the new window, choose “Donor Login” or “New Donor” and search with group code C594. Registration also can be made by calling 412-209-7000.

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